Thai solar FITs discussed

Since the introduction of its small power program in 2006, Thailand has signed contracts to develop 4,300 megawatts (MWs) of renewable generation. Nearly half of the contracts – 1,800 MWs – are for solar energy.

Share

Currently 850 MWs of generation is already online as a result of the program, says Chris Greacen, a former consultant to the Thai government. The large majority of that – 700 MW – is from biomass. Currently, only 16 MWs of solar is in operation, but the number of projects is growing rapidly, according to Greacen.

Thailand’s Very Small Power Producer (VSPP) program uses the "bonus model" of feed-in tariff (FIT) design, where the final tariff paid is composed of several "adders" on top of the avoided wholesale cost of generation.

As in successful programs elsewhere, Thai FITs are differentiated by technology. However, the countrys tariff program contains several unique features: there is a specific "adder" or bonus for offsetting diesel-fired generation; there is also a location adder or risk premium for projects in three southern provinces; and an adder to compensate for fossil-fuel price volatility.

Thailand joins several other Asian countries, such as China, Malaysia and the Philippines, that have moved to FITs or are in the process of doing so.

The Thai program includes anti-gaming provisions to discourage "briefcase" project developers from clogging the program with applications that are unlikely to be built. The program requires 200 baht/kWh (USD$6/kW) deposit to prove the developer’s good faith. Furthermore, no adder will be paid if project completion is more than one year past its due date.

Contracts to date are dominated by proposed biomass and solar thermal electric projects. Overall, there are 1,400 MWs of solar thermal electric projects, and 2,100 MWs of biomass projects under contract.

To increase project diversity, Thailand is providing government-backed loans at four percent interest up to 50 million baht (USD$1.6 million) per project. Similar to Germany’s KfW (the German Bank for Reconstruction and Finance), the government has loaned four billion baht to 13 banks at 0.5 percent interest for use in the program.

The Thai program followed the introduction of a net-metering policy in 2002. The current FIT program went into effect in 2006. Projects are limited to 10 MWs, while contracts vary from seven to 10 years.

Most photovoltaics projects under contract are large, ground-mounted arrays. Interestingly, nearly all will use inverters made by a domestic Thai manufacturer.

Payment for a typical solar project not located in the southern provinces would include eight baht/kWh solar bonus, 2.6 baht/kWh for the wholesale avoided cost, plus 0.93 baht/kWh for the fuel volatility bonus. The total payment, 11.5 baht/kWh is about $0.38 USD/kWh. However, solar contracts are good for only ten years.

Related

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.

Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.

You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.

Keep up to date

pv magazine Global offers daily updates of the latest photovoltaics news. We also offer comprehensive global coverage of the most important solar markets worldwide. Select one or more editions for targeted, up to date information delivered straight to your inbox.

Email*

Select Edition(s)*

Hold Ctrl or Cmd to select multiple editions.

We send newsletters with the approximate frequency outlined for each edition above, with occasional additional notifications about events and webinars. We measure how often our emails are opened, and which links our readers click. To provide a secure and reliable service, we send our email with MailChimp, which means we store email addresses and analytical data on their servers. You can opt out of our newsletters at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of every mail. For more information please see our Data Protection Policy.

Keep up to date

We send newsletters with the approximate frequency outlined for each edition above, with occasional additional notifications about events and webinars. We measure how often our emails are opened, and which links our readers click. To provide a secure and reliable service, we send our email with MailChimp, which means we store email addresses and analytical data on their servers. You can opt out of our newsletters at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of every mail. For more information please see our Data Protection Policy.

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.